The 6 most damning findings from the DOJ's report on racism in the city of Ferguson

I have been having a good wk so far and like many of you guys have Ferguson fatigue , Micheal Brown is dead and buried the man who killed him along with the justice system who thought he never warranted a trial, I gave the middle finger long ago, what else is there to do it's just another Saturday,but i'll be damned if Ferguson will let me breathe for this article came into my life disturbing my peace.
The article said 6 damming findings from the DOJ's report but I want to focus on what I think is the most outrageous, the financial incentive for police misconduct and racism. that of #6

6) The municipal court was out to make money for the city, and its decisions were motivated by this goal versus public safety

DOJ investigators found that the municipal court "primarily uses its judicial authority as the means to compel the payment of fines and fees that advance the City's financial interests" in a way that violated the Constitution.
The Court, they concluded, issued arrest warrants not when public safety required them, but in response to missed courts appearances, and required fine payments.
These practices overwhelmingly affected black citizens. Here's how they played out in the case of one African-American woman:
We spoke, for example, with an African-American woman who has a still-pending case stemming from 2007, when, on a single occasion, she parked her car illegally. She received two citations and a $151 fine, plus fees. The woman, who experienced financial difficulties and periods of homelessness over several years, was charged with seven Failure to Appear offenses for missing court dates or fine payments on her parking tickets between 2007 and 2010. For each Failure to Appear, the court issued an arrest warrant and imposed new fines and fees. From 2007 to 2014, the woman was arrested twice, spent six days in jail, and paid $550 to the court for the events stemming from this single instance of illegal parking. Court records show that she twice attempted to make partial payments of $25 and $50, but the court returned those payments, refusing to accept anything less than payment in full. One of those payments was later accepted, but only after the court's letter rejecting payment by money order was returned as undeliverable. This woman is now making regular payments on the fine. As of December 2014, over seven years later, despite initially owing a $151 fine and having already paid $550, she still owed $541.
www.vox.com...

Now why are blacks dis-proportionally arrested and put into the PIC "The Prison Industrial Complex" may have a financial motive much like the profiteering from the old Chain Gang from a bygone era, in this we put many in the PIC and they come out hardened criminals or became second class citizens never truly working their way out of that cycle because for some crime truly pays.

Cue the racist government/authority apologists...




What?...

We can cue Muslim apologists?
& Cop apologists?



But don't cue the racist apologists, because they are non-existent?
Because systematic racism is a myth?
& white privilege is a myth?



Kindly, get real!

They exist.
And I'm cueing them...





Yes, the PIC is a cash cow...
Very much so...


& when you hinder a specific race's social status, you create a demographic of system slaves of a different bracket...

ie...

"We would rather have you making us money from a cage, rather than as a tax payer...
Because there would be no way to demonise you if we didn't...
The ones we don't trap... We will take your vote instead...
We are wolves in sheep's clothing..."





Now tell me it's their own fault for being thuggish...
Tell me the game isn't rigged... anymore...
Tell me that the superiority isn't an issue...
Tell me it's the other side's inferiority complex that causes this...

I probably won't be responding though, because I'm disagreeing with you already!


Heard it all before...
Seen it all before...
Now I speak about it...

Because "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil"... Is for cowards!



& Ferguson, is just the beginning.

The Court, they concluded, issued arrest warrants not when public safety required them, but in response to missed courts appearances, and required fine payments.

That's common practice everywhere.
When the Judge says "Be here" they don't mean "if you've got the time and don't have anything better to do". My son, who lives in Texas, got arrested for unpaid speeding tickets and had to pay to get out, so this is not unusual. I agree there is rampant racism in police departments and over abuse of power, but any report on racism that is connected to Holder, I would look at very, very carefully. He has proven himself a racist with an agenda, along with the power and backing of the president.

I got in a bit of trouble once, minor, (driving with expired license) If I was not able to pay the fine in full, I was to go and set up a payment plan. Did she set up a payment plan? And what is the excuse for not showing up to court 7 times? Do we all have to follow the BS court rules, or just some of us?

ID

Just found this while surfing youtube, I am beginning to think the legalization of soft drugs like Ganja is opposed by many not because of fear of competition for alcohol industry or morality issues but because the amount of revenue one get by arresting and raiding peoples homes, then there is the seizure of cars by highway patrols with is a multi Billion dollar industry
Policing for Profit: How your property can be seized
www.wtsp.com...
I remembered this also, look if our cities and towns need revenue then freaking raise taxes, this is a Chitty way of going about it or at the very lest stop with the Bullsh!!!t and legalize weed like Colorado has done they are so awashed in revenue from sales taxes from the former illegal product they are now thinking of giving money back to it's citizens.

originally posted by: ItalianDressing
I got in a bit of trouble once, minor, (driving with expired license) If I was not able to pay the fine in full, I was to go and set up a payment plan. Did she set up a payment plan? And what is the excuse for not showing up to court 7 times? Do we all have to follow the BS court rules, or just some of us?

ID

. Court records show that she twice attempted to make partial payments of $25 and $50, but the court returned those payments, refusing to accept anything less than payment in full.

The first issue we have to correct is courts and police acting as road pirates and tax collectors. We keep talking about it, the government has acknowledged it. Maybe after Obama finishes taking care of all the illegal aliens and making sure Iran has a viable nuclear program he can whip out his famous pen and executive order us a solution.

When it was a race issue every politician wanted to get involved and it was a media circus.

When it's a corruption and abuse of power issue -crickets.

Call me crazy, but perhaps someone who's struggling financially shouldn't park illegally in the first place. What's funny is he just described every police department in the nation, yet he's still trying to make this a racial issue. Do you think the same clerk would accept a partial payment from a white person?

a reply to: Spider879

No mention in the OP of African American Eric Holder, Attorney General for seven years.
Don't you the he had plenty of time to expose the "PIC" if any evidence exists?

a reply to: Spider879

when i was young, I would get in legal trouble, if i resisted police. They kicked my A**. One time i had a gun on my night stand , when the cops saw it they told me not to move or they would blow my F*****g Head off. They meant it. If i missed court they would issue FTA warrant and i would get arrested, time in jail and more fines. So, with saying all that. I do not get into legal trouble any more. It doesn't mater what color you are ,IF YOU DON"T FOLLOW THE RULES it's not going to go well for you.

a reply to: DEANORULES24

It's not just about ignoring the rules, an awful lot of it is filling quotas for tickets and arrests I think a thread is posted somewhere on here.
first is the stop and frisk, in some police precinct they up the anti by charging you for anything even if they have to fabricate stuff again very common, why ?? pressure to make that quota to bring home the bacon to mamma which is money being flowed into the city coffers.

In this vid the cop barged into this man's home as far as I can see without a warrant, now tell me if $$ will not somehow flow from the arrestee's pockets into the PIC, why Black males?? simple they make easy and convenient targets, unless it's being filmed they never get the benefit of the doubt and sometimes not even a vid can help them, if you are poor you tend to plea rather than fight the courts, finally the cultural, Black males have a tendency to not willingly get cuffed especially if they think they are in the right the PIC is banking on this, not unlike the above..Ka-Chiing!!

a reply to: Spider879

It's the # 2 business in the USA, It would drop 100 folds if, people listen to the police and follows the laws!

a reply to: Spider879

Let me get this straight:

In America, regardless of racial background, you can be incarcerated for unpaid minor traffic fines incurred from such things as a parking violation?

LOL, unbelievable!

originally posted by: Spider879

. Court records show that she twice attempted to make partial payments of $25 and $50, but the court returned those payments, refusing to accept anything less than payment in full.

I wonder if we can actually "see" the court records?

Maybe these returned payments were bad checks.

While I agree there is an aspect of racism in some police departments; I object to framing the problem with the police in today's America as race. I see the prevalent attitude of police towards all citizens to be unacceptable. None of us our safe. Calling it racism just splits the population and keeps us from combating it as a unified force.

a reply to: Metallicus


Yea OP has failed to demonstrate racism.

There have been plenty of times when I have been instructed that a partial payment will not be accepted. Does that mean those people are racist against whites? As much as I find it counter-intuitive to demand payment and not be willing to take that payment in increments a person is able to make, it is not an uncommon practice to only accept full payment.

a reply to: Spider879

It's worse than that... I've read about stories such as this too many times, but in order to see that there's a problem you have to care enough to look. Too many people don't.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

And as you stated, here they come. I wonder how many on ATS actually read the DOJ report? There are some massively disturbing trends in the culture of the Fergueson PD. Mainly that they knowingly and willingly choose to target the black community, disproportionally.

White americans use drugs and illicit substances at the same rate of black americans, moreso in some cases. And yet it is black folks incarcerated at alarming rates. It's actually quite disgusting because black people aren't even the primary consumers of most of the drugs and yet they are slapped with the stigmata.

American hypocrisy.

originally posted by: CharlieSpeirs
white privilege is a myth?

As a white man, yeah... pretty much it is a myth. Unless you're a sadomasochist and consider being blamed for every minority relation issue in the country as being a "privilege." Sorry, but we're expected to follow the law, pay our bills, and obey court orders just like everyone else... and there are consequences to be paid if we refuse.